1. Public Sector Banks Lose More Than Rs 50,000 Crore In Q4
Government-owned banks, forced to accelerate the clean-up of their books in the final quarter of FY18, have reported losses in excess of Rs 50,000 crore, shows earnings data compiled by BloombergQuint. Banks have been recognising and providing for bad loans for the last two years now but the process was speeded up due to a tougher stressed asset framework put in place by the Reserve Bank of India in February.
The result has been that most public sector banks have reported large losses for the quarter ended March 2018.
For the 17 listed PSU banks which have reported earnings till Friday, the total net loss stood at Rs 53,000 crore compared with a net loss of Rs 4,302 crore in the same quarter last year. Most banks took some reprieve through tax write-backs which helped reduces losses to some extent.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
2. Fuel Prices Hiked for 14 Days in A Row Even as Government Mulls Policy Response
State-run oil marketing companies increased prices of petrol and diesel for the fourteenth day in a row, even as the Narendra Modi government said it would formulate a policy to shield consumers from rising fuel prices.
The price of petrol was hiked by 15 paise today to Rs 85.93 a litre in Mumbai, while that of diesel was raised by 17 paise to Rs 73.53 a litre, according to data released by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Petrol and diesel are costlier by Rs 3.45 a litre and Rs 3.33 a litre, respectively, since 14 May, when oil marketing companies resumed daily price revisions after a 19-day freeze in the run-up to the Karnataka elections.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
3. Adani Group Looks to Buy Shree Renuka Sugars from Wilmar International
The Adani Group may acquire the sugar business of Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd, India’s largest sugar manufacturer, from Wilmar Sugar Holdings, a senior company executive told Mint. At present, Wilmar Sugar, which is a subsidiary of Singapore-based agribusiness group Wilmar International, owns a 39% stake in Shree Renuka.
While the parent company is launching an open offer to help Wilmar Sugar get a controlling stake in Shree Renuka, it is parallelly holding talks with Adani Wilmar, a 50:50 joint venture between the two groups, to market Shree Renuka’s Madhur brand, the executive said. He added that Wilmar seeks to leverage Adani’s distribution network and marketing expertise.
(Source: Livemint)
4. India to Beat Japan This Year; To Have Asia’s Second-Largest Power Capacity
With a rapid roll-out of coal generation, India is all set to overtake Japan and to have Asia’s second-largest power capacity, data show. Fueled by a rapid rollout of coal-fired power generation, India will have a power capacity of 363.32 gigawatts in 2018, Bloomberg reported quoting a BMI Research report. India’s capacity will increase by a whopping 69% through 2027 and coal will remain the mainstay, making up about 75% of the mix, the report said.
By 2020, India is expected to surpass even the United States, which is the second largest producer in the world. The government recently achieved the historic target of 100% village electrification. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Saubhagya scheme, the government aims to provide electricity to all households. This means an uptick in domestic demand for power in coming years, which is expected to be met by coal-fired power generation and by tapping abundant renewable resources.
(Source: Financial Express)
5. Provident Fund Drops to Lowest in 5 Years at 8.55%
Retirement fund body EPFO has asked its field offices to credit 8.55 percent rate of interest for 2017-18, the lowest rate since 2012-13 fiscal, into the PF accounts of around 5 crore subscribers. The Labour Ministry has conveyed approval of the central government to credit 8.55 percent rate of interest for 2017-18 into PF accounts of members, according to an order issued by the EPFO to its more than 120 field offices. The finance ministry had ratified 8.55 percent rate of interest on EPF for the last fiscal.
But it could not be implemented because of model code of conduct for Karnataka elections. The labour ministry had sought Election Commission’s approval to notify rate of interest for crediting the same into members’ accounts by the EPFO in view of model code of conduct for Karnataka elections. The EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees, headed by the labour minister, had decided to fix rate of interest at 8.55 percent for the last fiscal in its meeting held on 21 February, 2018. The labour ministry had sent the CBT’s recommendation over the rate of interest to the finance ministry for its concurrence.
(Source: Financial Express)
6. Startup Street: Mobike Follows Rival Ofo To India
App-based bicycle sharing platform Mobike has forayed into India by launching its services in Pune, nearly five months after rival Ofo ventured into the country.
The Beijing-headquartered startup has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pune Municipal Corporation, in line with the municipality’s ambitious ‘Pune Cycle Plan’ launched in 2016, according to its press release. “The focus is on the development of a sustainable urban transportation system and smart city solution to reduce traffic congestion,” it said.
We are working with a number of cities and are confident that the launch in Pune will be the first of many such partnerships with city administrations in India, allowing us to make cycling the most accessible, affordable, safe and convenient mode of urban transport in India.Vibhor Jain, CEO, Mobike India
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Govt May Tell Tata Tele to Settle Dues Before Deal With Tata Communications
The government, which owns 26% in Tata Communications Ltd, may veto the company’s plan to buy the enterprise business of Tata Teleservices Ltd when it comes up for shareholders’ approval unless all government dues are cleared, a telecom ministry official said.
Tata Teleservices owes the government as much as Rs 10,000 crore in spectrum-related charges and licence fee dues, the official said, requesting anonymity. Tata Communications requires the government’s support as a shareholder to proceed with the acquisition in addition to a later-stage approval from the department of telecommunications (DoT).
(Source: Livemint)
8. IndiGo, Air India Express Among Top 5 Cheapest Airlines in the World
Low-cost carriers IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd) and Air India Express have been ranked among the top five cheapest airlines in the world in providing international flights.
Air India Express, the wholly-owned subsidiary of state-run carrier Air India has been ranked second and the budget carrier IndiGo placed at fifth position in a Global Flight Pricing Report prepared by Melbourne-based Rome2Rio – a multimodal travel planning site.
(Source: Livemint)
9. Nifty CPSE Index Falls 10% in 2017 on Weak Energy Stocks
Returns from the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded Fund (CPSE ETF) fell steeply in the past year, even as the exchange’s benchmark Nifty index rose.
The reason: A sharp fall in some of the constituents of the Nifty CPSE index, which is dominated by energy and metal companies. The ETF closely tracks the performance of the Nifty CPSE index.
The Nifty CPSE index lost 10.2% in the one-year period ended 25 May, while the benchmark 30-share Nifty index gained 11.52%. In 2018, too, the Nifty CPSE index has fallen 13.35%, while the Nifty is marginally up 0.71%.
(Source: Livemint)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)